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Sodom and Gomorrah Salt Mask
|last = }} The Sodom and Gomorrah Salt Mask is a facial impression in hardened salt originating from the destruction of the biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. History Created when God brought down his wrath on the notoriously sinful cities, angels sent by God warned Lot of the coming destruction and admonished him not to look back as him and his family fled the city. As they were fleeing, Lot's wife disobeyed the angels' warning and looked back causing her body to be encased in salt. When the biblical city of Sodom was razed for its sins, a windstorm came and buried it in the same salt dunes that made it so wealthy. Warehouse 3 agents feared that when the salt buried the city certain objects became artifacts after the salt formed around them. This mask is all that's left of a human face that was buried in salt. Effects Whenever someone consumes salt from the mask, they receive an ironic and usually fatal punishment based on their greatest unconfessed sin. The only way of stopping the effect is to confess to the sin for which they are being punished. Usage This artifact was discovered in a suburban gated community after a district attorney was found dead on his front lawn. The forensic scientist discovered the cause of death was a combination of muscle paralysis, lung collapse, and heart attack. Also, his blood work showed that he had the exact same chemical compounds found in a lethal injection needle in his veins. Shortly after Pete and Myka arrived, a cheating wife was found with her skin fused together with the skin of the man she was cheating on her husband with, an arsonist suddenly burst into flames, and a war veteran started coughing up poisonous gas. Pete and Myka discovered a local woman, Janice Malloy, was using salt from the mask to get revenge on people. A few weeks before all this started, Janice had asked the development board to build a memorial for her late husband. Her husband founded that community and she wanted him to be remembered, but the board turned down her request for fear this memorial would only be a magnet for vandalism. Everyone that was affected by this artifact was involved with the development board in some way, and therefore was partially responsible for turning her request down. She'd use grains of salt from the mask in her prized home-made cookies, and she simply gave a plate of the salted cookies to whoever she wanted revenge on. Pete's tendency to consume food on sight caused him to steal a bit of one of the 'vengeance cookies' and to suffer painfully by being flung through a window. With the aid of Myka, who had deduced how to stop the artifact, Pete confessed to his sin: a drunk-driving incident in which he nearly killed his best friend, and the final straw that lead him to giving up drinking. Origin In Genesis 18, three men came, thought by most commentators to have been angels appearing as men, to Abram (Abraham) in the plains of Mamre. After the angels received the hospitality of Abraham and Sarah, his wife, the Lord revealed to Abraham that he would destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, because their cry was great, "and because their sin is very grievous". In response, Abraham inquired of the Lord if he would spare the city if 50 righteous people were found in it, to which the Lord agreed he would not destroy it for the sake of the righteous yet dwelling therein. Abraham then inquired of God for mercy at lower numbers (first 45, then 40, then 30, then 20, and finally at 10), with the Lord agreeing each time. Two of the angels proceeded to Sodom and were met by Abraham's nephew Lot, who convinced the angels to lodge with him, and they ate with Lot. Meanwhile, the men of the city gathered around Lot's house, asking about his guests and demanding he'd open his doors so they "may known them" (have intercourse with them). Lot refused to give his guests to the inhabitants of Sodom and, instead, offered them his two virgin daughters "which have not known man" and to "do ye to them as is good in your eyes". However, they refused this offer and threatened to do worse to Lot than they would have done to his guests, and then came near to break down the door. Lot's angelic guests rescued him and struck the men with blindness, thereby revealing to Lot that they were not ordinary men but angels, and they informed Lot of their mission to destroy the city. Then (not having found even 10 righteous people in the city), they commanded Lot to gather his family and leave. As they made their escape, one angel commanded Lot to "look not behind thee" (singular "thee"). However, as Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed with brimstone and fire from the Lord, Lot's wife looked back at the city, and she became a pillar of salt. Category:Artifacts